FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT BETHLEHEM POLICE - PAGE 3

Bethlehem police have asked for the public's help to identify a man who robbed a convenience store early Wednesday. The robbery happened just before 3:30 a.m. at the 7-Eleven, 101 E. Broad St. Police said the suspect showed a black handgun and demanded cash from the register. Police said he also stole cigar wrappers. After the robbery, the man fled on with an undisclosed amount of cash. No one was injured, police said. The suspect is a light-skinned man, about 6 feet tall wearing jeans and a light brown jacket with a hood.

Bethlehem police said a man robbed a Subway restaurant Sunday night. The robbery happened at 8:40 p.m. at the restaurant at 1829 Stefko Blvd., police said. No one was injured. Police said a man came into the shop and gave the clerk a note demanding cash. He implied he had a weapon, police said. The man got away with an undetermined amount of cash. Police said the suspect is Hispanic, about 5 feet 8 inches tall with a thin build. He was wearing a blue hoodie with a zipper, blue jeans, white shoes and a red ball cap with the letter "L" in white on it. Anyone with information may call the police crime tip line at 610-691-6660.

Bethlehem police said an alert 911 dispatcher used one of the city's surveillance cameras to record two men allegedly using cocaine while inside a parked car early Saturday. Around 3:20 a.m., police said the dispatcher – whose name was not listed in a police report – saw suspicious activity in a car parked at E. Third and Hill streets. Police said two men inside the red BMW were recorded on the camera allegedly snorting cocaine off the vehicle's console. When officers surrounded the car, police said the driver, Isaac Hernandez, still had white powder visible on his nose.

A 19-year-old man accidently shot himself in the foot Thursday night, Bethlehem police said. Police received a call shortly after 8 p.m. of a shooting victim at St. Luke's Hospital-Fountain Hill. The man had a gunshot wound to his foot and at first, said he was shot during a robbery, said police Detective David Bartera. When investigators told the man the wound wasn't consistent with his story, the man later admitted he had accidentally shot himself with a gun he kept in his waistband, police said.

A drug dealer who drives a BMW was charged Wednesday during a sting operation, Bethlehem police allege. Thomas Lee Taylor, 27, of 449 Willow St. in Allentown is in Northampton County Prison on charges of possession with intent to deliver marijuana and attempted marijuana delivery. According to court records: On Wednesday evening, vice police conducted a buy-and-bust operation at the 800 block of Muschlitz Street, stopping and detaining Taylor after he arrived in his black BMW. Inside the car, police uncovered three vacuum-sealed bags containing a "large amount" of suspected marijuana.

For 20-plus years, I have attended opening-night Musikfest activities as a volunteer and patron, and this year's first night was the most chaotic. I can't help but think that perhaps eliminating the paid venues and subsequent decreased adult fest-going presence on Musikfest North (who in the past would have been going to and from Sand Island) may have had its impact on the chaos. While it is always tricky trying to negotiate the crowds walking to and from Main Street to Plaza Tropical and Banana Island/Sand Island, I always felt safe and got from point A to point B without incident.

Bethlehem police chased down and caught a man they say is wanted in a Lower Saucon Township burglary and may be connected to others in Bethlehem, police said. Raul Pacheco, 53, of 1535 E. Ninth St,. Bethlehem, was spotted on a purple beach cruiser in W. Fourth Street at 11 a.m. Thursday, police said. Lt. Mark DiLuzio said Pacheco was wanted by Lower Saucon police on a burglary warrant. DiLuzio said he is the same guy shown on surveillance footage leaving a Lower Saucon home he had just burglarized.

Bethlehem police are investigating a robbery Tuesday at the off-campus home of a Lehigh University student. The home-invasion robbery happened around 7:20 p.m. at the home of Kevin Jones, 21, at 418 Fillmore St., police said. Police said Jones and one of the other victims, 21-year-old Greg Turcotte, are both Lehigh students. Police said two men entered the home, one armed with a handgun and one with a baseball bat. The men forced Jones, Turcotte and two other men inside to get down on the floor.

Bethlehem police are looking for witnesses to a fatal motorcycle crash on Saturday night. The crash happened shortly before 8:30 p.m. at New and Fairview streets. Police said the motorcycle was driven by Randy C. Bracken, 49, of Bethlehem, who later died from his injuries at St. Luke's Hospital-Fountain Hill. Police said the motorcycle struck a van driven by Frank Castenda, 43, of Fountain Hill. A passenger on the motorcycle, John Stofko, 18, of Bethlehem, was seriously injured and remains at St. Luke's Hospital, according to police.

A 19-year police veteran who has worked as the department's firearms instructor and on the emergency response team has been named deputy commisisoner for Bethlehem police. Mayor John Callahan announced at a news conference Tuesday that Lt. Craig Finnerty has been appointed to move into the department's second-in-command. Finnerty, 41, of Lower Nazareth, joined the department in 1992 and has received numerous letters of commendation. For the past few months, Finnerty has worked as the head of the department's professional standards division that handles accreditation issues, officer training and conducting internal affairs.